Paper calender



p 7, 1955 w. c. WHITTUM 2,713,327

PAPER CALENDER Filed Oct. 8, 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR th mghf BY i ATTORNEY5 Sept. 27, 1 955 w, c, w T 2,718,827

PAPER CALENDEIR Filed Oct. 8, 1952 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR WW- Q.

BY WWMMQ ATTO RN EY5 United States Patent PAPER CALENDER Warren C. Whittum, Ansonia, Conn, assignor to Farrel- Birmingham Company, Incorporated, Ansonia, Conm, a corporation of Connecticut Application October 8, 1952, Serial No. 313,747

3 Claims. (Cl. 9273) This invention relates to an anti-deflection roll support and more particularly to a mechanism for supporting the outer surface of one of two or more rolls used in a rolling mill, calender, or the like to prevent deflection of the supported roll.

In such devices as paper calenders, for example (and it will be understood that this applies to many other devices where material is passed between cooperating rolls under considerable pressure), a pair of spaced frames is provided between which frames extend a plurality of rolls usually mounted in a vertical stack. in such a structure the bottom roll not only carries the weight of the upper rolls, but also pressure is placed upon the top roll in order to obtain the required gauge of material delivered from'the calender, and the lower roll must bear this pressure.

In such devices the bottom roll is subject to considerable deflection due to the weight and pressure which it must carry, and it has been the custom to provide such rolls with a crown or make them larger at the center than at the ends to compensate for this deflection. It will be understood that the rolls are supported at their ends in the frames and, therefore, the greatest deflection occurs at their central portions where they are unsupported.

It is contemplated by the present invention to provide means for preventing the deflection of the bottom roll and thus provide for an approximately uniform pressure between the'rolls upon the paper or other material being processed. As the pressure applied to the material is sometimes varied according to results desired, the expedie nt of providing a crown upon the rolls is not entirely, satisfactory as the amount of crown which would be proper for one pressure is not proper for another pressure. It is, therefore, desirable to provide means for preventing the deflection of the roll regardless of the amount of pressure placed upon the material being processed and thereby result in. the application of an approximately uniform pressure at all times and along the entire length of the roll.

This result is achieved in the present instance by providing a sectional roll support for the particular roll, the deflection of which is to be prevented, whether this is one of a plurality of rolls or is merely one of a pair of rolls. As illustrated, such a support is provided by arranging at the outer surface of the roll a plurality of short bearing against the surface of the working roll and resiliently urging these relatively short or sectional rolls into contact withthe working roll to prevent deflection of the latter. As shown, a plurality of pivoted frames or cradles are provided adjacent the outer surface of the working roll, these cradles being pivoted at one side and each carrying a pair of rollers, one disposed on each side of the center line of the working roll.

I The-cradles are resiliently urged toward the working rolls by an hydraulic mechanism consisting of a piston and cylinder, the pistons bearing against the lower surfaces of the cradles and the cylinders-being interconnected so that all of the cradles will be urged upwardly with the same degree of pressure. As stated, each cradle carries a pair of rolls, and as there are a number of cradles positioned adjacent the working rolls, in alignment, it will be seen that there are provided two rows of relatively short backing or presser rolls, one row upon each side of the center line of the working roll which will support the latter against deflection.

Moreover, the short presser rolls in one row will preferably be arranged in staggered relation with respect to those in the other row so that there will be no tendency for the edges of the presser rolls to mark or score the working roll.

While, as illustrated, two presser rolls are provided in each of the pivoted frames or cradles as the preferredarrangement, it will be understood that, if desired, each cradle may carry only a single roll, this roll, of course, being disposed directly below the center line of the working roll, in which event there would be a single line or row of relatively short presser or backing rolls which would bear against the outer surface of the work roll and prevent deflection thereof. In some instances, however, the use of a pair of rolls in each cradle, as illustrated, would be preferred in order to eliminate any possibility of marking the work roll.

One object of the present invention is to provide an anti-deflection roll support for the roll or rolls of calenders or like machines wherein material is passed between two or more cooperating rolls under pressure tending to cause deflection of one of the rolls.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an anti-deflection roll support for a working roll of a calender or like device such that the working roll will be supported resiliently throughout its entire length against deflection.

Still another object of the invention is to provide an anti-deflection roll support of the character described, the roll support comprising a plurality of relatively short presser or backing rolls arranged in alignment and in substantially end-to-end relation along the length of the work roll, these backing rolls being resiliently urged against the surface of the work roll along substantially its entire length to prevent deflection thereof and maintain uniform pressure thereon.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an anti-deflection roll assembly of the character described in which a plurality of frames or cradles are arranged ad-' along the length of the work roll in substantially end-toend relation, and one roll of a pair being in staggered position with respect to the other roll of the pair.

To these and other ends the invention consists in the novel features and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of a calendar having my anti-deflection roll support applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view on line 33 of Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the cradles for supporting the presser or backing rolls; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary view similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of the invention.

To illustrate a preferred embodiment of my invention I-have shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings a conventional calender structure comprising end frames 10 and 11 in which are supported the roll necks of a plurality of rolls r 13,14, 15, 16, and 17, these rolls being arranged-ina; v er-.-

' tical stack so that the lower roll 17 carries the weight of the upper rolls. This is the usual calender construction and, as stated, it is often the practice to place extra pressure upon the top roll in order to exert the required pressure upon the sheet material 18 being processed by the, rolls.

This pressure as well as the weight of the upper rolls will cause deflection of the lower roll and, as it is. supported only at its end frames 10 and 11,, the deflection at the central portion of the roll will be relatively great. As it is necessary to produce sheet material in very fine and uniform gauge, it is necessary either to, prevent such deflecti'on or to compensate for it by crowning the bottom roll.

It is contemplated in the present invention to support the bottom roll of such a machine or the working roll of any other machine wherein sheet material is processed under pressure in such a way that deflection of the roll is avoided.

As illustrated in the drawings, I haveprovided' a sectional support for the roll 17 so that a plurality of short supporting or backing rolls will bear against the work roll for substantially its entire length. To this. end a plurality of cradles are provided such, for example, as are shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings. Each of these cradles comprises a pair of side frame members having front portions 19 offset from their rear portions 20 by intermediate transversely extending portions 21. These frame members may be connected together by a bottom plate 22 and at their free ends thev rear portions 20 are provided with hearing members 23 pivotally carried upon a rod or shaft 24 carried in supporting standards 25 which rest upon the floor or other support 26.

It will be understood that, as shown in Fig. 3, there are a plurality of such cradles arranged along the shaft 24, which shaft extends substantially the length of the working roll 17, the cradles being pivoted on the shaft for vertical movement. It may also be noted that the opening 27 in each of the bearing members 23, which openings receive the shaft 24, are slightly elongated in a horizontal direction, as shown particularly in Fig. 2, so that the cradles will have a slight horizontal play with respect to the shafts in order that they will be self-centering against the roll 17.

Each of the cradles above described carries a pair of rolls consisting of a rear roll 28 and a forward roll 29, each of the rolls being provided with roll necks or stems at their ends rotatably mounted in openings 30 and 31 in the cradles. The rolls 29 are mounted in the forward portions 19 of the side members of the cradles While the rolls 28 are mounted in the rear portions 20, thus resulting in the forward rolls 29 being staggered with respect to the position of the rear rolls 28 as clearly shown in Fig. 3, and it may also be noted that all of the rear rolls 28 are disposed in a line upon one side of the center line of the roll 17, while the rolls 2.9 are similarly disposed upon the other side of the center line of the roll 17. This disposition of the rolls of one row in staggered relation to those of the other results in the breaking of joints between the rolls so that a roll in one row will overlap the ends of the two adjacent rolls in the other row, and thus prevent the marking of the work roll 17 Disposed below the row of cradles are a plurality of cylinders 34, there being one provided for each of the cradles, and these cylinders being pivoted at 35 to brackets 36 resting upon the foundation 26. Slidably mounted in these cylind rs 34 are pistons 37 whi h exten upwardly therefrom and bear against the plates 22 secured to the side members of the cradles. It will be apparent that upon introduction of pressure fluid into the cylinder 34 the piston 37 will be raised, thus applying pressure to the cradles to urge the presser rolls 28 and 29 toward the working roll 17, and that when the pressure is reduced in the cylinders 34, the cradles will be urged upwardly with less pressure or be allowed to drop away from the working-roll. To permit the rolls 28 and 29 to center themselves with respect to the axis of the working rolls during the swinging movement of the cradles, the latterwill be permitted slight horizontal play by reason of the elongation of the openings 27 which received the shaft 24.

The cylinders 34 are interconnected by means of pipes or conduits 38 in order that a pressure fluid may be introduced into the cylinders and that the same pressure will be present in all thereof. One of the end cylinders 34 may be connected to a source of fluid pressure by the pipe 39, as shown in Fig. l.

It, will be understood that by the above arrangement I have shown a sectional support for the working roll of a calender or like machine wherein this roll will be supported against deflection substantially along its entire length. This support is provided by the pressure or backing rolls 28 and 29 and, as these rolls are relatively short and supported at both ends, there will be no deflection of these rolls but they will bear against the working roll with substantially uniform pressure along its entire length.

Moreover, by maintaining the constant pressure within the cylinders 34 the pressure, upon the working roll 17 may be maintained at a uniform value and, of course, may be increased or decreased according to the requirements of the material which is being processed, depending upon the amount of pressure desired between the working rolls of the calender.

In Fig. 5 of the drawings I have shown a modifica? ti'on of myinvention similar in all respects to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 except that the presser or working rolls. 28 of one row are not staggered with respect to, but are placed opposite, the rolls 29 of the other row. other respects the construction and operation of this embodiment are like the form of my invention previously described. As stated, it will be understood that instead of providing a pair of rolls in each of the cradles pivoted upon the shaft 24, I may provide a single roll in each cradle, this roll being disposed opposite the center of the working roll 17 so as to be in alignment with the stack of rolls and resist any tendency of the lower roll to be deflected.

While I have shown and described som Preferred enibodiments of my invention, it will be understood that it is not to be limited to all of the details shown, but

is capable of modification and variation within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the claims.

What I claim is: 1. A calender having a frame and a plurality of rolls arranged in a stack one above the other whereby the lower roll carries the weight of the rolls above it, means for preventing deflection of the lower roll under such weight and under the pressure of operation, said means comprising a plurality of cradles arranged along the length of said lower roll and pivoted to the frame on common axes parallel to and offset from the plane of the axes of the rolls of said stack, a presser roll carried by each of said cradles in position to bear against the lower roll to support it substantially along its entire length, and means resiliently urging said cradles toward the lower roll, said means comprising a cylinder mounted below each cradle, and a piston operative ly mounted in said cylinder and connected to the associated cradle and a common pressure line leading to said cylinders to maintain equal pressure therein.

2. A calender as in claim 1 wherein a pair of presser rolls are mounted in each cradle, one upon each side of the axis of the lower roll, and each at said pistons are connected to the respective cradle midway between the rolls of each pair.

3. A calender as in claim 1 wherein a pair of presser rolls are provided in each cradle, one upon each side of (References on following page) 6 Young Nov. 21, 1944 Clem July 30, 1946 FOREIGN PATENTS Great Britain of 1897 Great Britain of 1907 Germany July 3, 1902 Germany Apr. 9, 1925 

